Convergence Complete: Google TV Takes OnLive To VIA

At first glance, the above headline appears to be a confusing mess of future-tech hokum made of buzz-words and babble, but it’s actually all true. Google TV is adding OnLive to its already exhaustive list of streaming entertainment options, and will soon come built-in to VIZIO’s VIA Plus-branded TV’s.

Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive, announced today that the increasingly-popular game-streaming service is on its way to Google TV owners, via an app which will be available on the Android Market.

In a blog post titled “Console-class Gaming Comes to Google TV,” Perlman himself made the announcement:

With Google TV, you take it for granted that you can stream just about any type of linear media–video, movies, music–on demand and experience it instantly. But, when it comes to the latest high-performance console-class games, you probably still need discs and big downloads to experience them, and gameplay is anything but instant.

With OnLive, the latest high-performance videogames stream just as instantly as videos or movies. It’s really cool.

Convergence of this magnitude cannot be understated. With Apple TV, Boxee, Roku, and the multitude of other internet-ready multimedia streaming devices out there, Google TV’s OnLive gambit puts the big G in a considerably loftier market-position than it was yesterday. But wait, there’s more.

In the same blog post, Perlman went on to announce that, at this week’s CES, VIZIO are showing-off the new V.I.A. Plus features, including — you guessed it — Google TV 2.0 with OnLive built-in:

In fact, this week at the CES Show in Las Vegas, VIZIO will showcase the first-ever line of Google TV products with OnLive playability built in. With this next generation of VIZIO Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus) devices, equipped with Google TV 2.0, you can simply power on your HDTV, pick up your Universal OnLive Wireless Controller and play amazing games instantly on demand–no console necessary.

And there you have it: At some point while you were reading this article, the future arrived. Although OnLive functionality on Google TV isn’t at 100% just yet, Google TV owners can download the OnLive Viewer app from the Android Market right now, and enjoy all the features of OnLive, except actually playing the games. Now, that might not sound all that impressive, but any current OnLive owner will tell you, the Arena function alone is worth the price of admission — the price of exactly zero dollars.

OnLive’s transformation from scrappy-upstart alternative gaming service to fully-realized console-threatener is almost complete. For example, I can currently play my OnLive catalog on my iphone, ipad, desktop PC and netbook, which is not too shabby at all. NetFlix, on the other hand is available to me on all those devices and every TV in my home. With the Google TV and VIZIO news today, it only a matter of time before OnLive is everywhere and, ultimately becomes self-aware.